Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #4 Review

Quentin Quire joins his victims in a world gone mad.

As much as I've enjoyed Brian Wood's return to the X-Men universe, my complaints about the first three issues have remained the same -- the concept really isn't enough to fill out a five-issue series. And while that's still true, issue #4 manages to feel somewhat more wholesome and fleshed out than the rest. Wood spends more time focusing on Quentin Quire's construct now that Quire himself has jumped into the fray. While the world itself remains pretty generic in look and feel, it does become a more interesting place with its maker around. Quentin's sad realizations that he can't control the construct and that he may become a literal victim of his own self-loathing show once again that Wood has a great handle on the character. He's far more sympathetic in this series than he has been pretty much anywhere else.

Wood also focuses a bit on the relationship between Hisako and Quentin. Not there was much of one there prior to this series, but it'll be fun to see if that changes afterward. Wood also deserves credit for highlighting Rachel Grey and Toad, two characters who have been too often ignored since the Jean Grey School opened.

The arts loses a bit of steam in this issue, unfortunately. Roland Boschi's pencils are a bit looser than normal, and certain characters appear uglier and more distorted than they should. Meanwhile, a handful of the construct pages are tackled by Andrew Currie rather than Mark Brooks. The book still has some moody and engaging pages, but the overall quality has slipped from previous chapters.